My Beautiful Rescue

Summary:
Bella is the new girl in Forks. When a scare alerts her to some unexplainable activities, she doesn't know what to do. She soon finds herself in love with somebody who isn't exactly supposed to love her back. Bella/Carlisle

Notes:This is Bella/Carlisle m'dears. Just throwing that out there. If you don't like it DO NOT read it. Really. I don't want one star reviews shouting "THIS IS GROSS"... and if I get them, I may be forced to throw on of my knight friends at your face.:D

6. You Better Be a Good Leader

It was lunchtime, three weeks after the Cullens first let me sit with them. It was a regular occurrence now. Only a few people even noticed anymore. I was old hat. There were many other scandalous things happening in Forks for me to be of any news anymore. My tray was rather empty, only an apple and a coke.

I took my usual seat in between Alice and Edward. Everyone greeted me with a friendly hello, as usual.

“How was class?” asked Edward.

“Eh, it was nothing special. Good thing it's Friday.” I shrugged. I took a bite of my apple. The Cullens never ate, but I didn't want to question them about it. I thought it would be rude.

“So, have you seen the flyers for the dance?” asked Alice.

I wasn't sure where she was going with her question. “Yes...” I trailed skeptically.

“Do you want to go?” asked Alice. Right as she asked, Edward swung his head to look at her. He looked so betrayed.

“I... I...” I stammered. I could not dance, so why do it in front of the entire school? I'd end up in the ER after two minutes on the dance floor.

“Oh, come on! You know it'll be fun!” pushed Alice.

Jasper took the hint. “Yeah, we'll all be there!”

“And it'd be funny to see you trip,” murmured Emmett.

“Shut up,” snarled Rosalie.

“Who would I even go with?” I asked. I could not believe that they were trying to convince me to go to a dance.

“Okay,” I mumbled. I started to play with my apple, not hungry anymore. My heart was beating frantically in my chest.

“Yay!” exclaimed Alice. “We need to get you a dress! How does a trip to Seattle sound?”

I was still breathless from the whole "you're going to a dance" thing, so I agreed. I would need a dress if I was going to a dance, after all.

The bell rang and I got up from the table in a daze. Edward walked beside me, silently keeping pace with me.

“If you don't want to go you don't have to,” he said quietly. It was the first time that I saw him disappointed.

“Well, I'll go if you want to, but I just want to warn you...I can't dance. I can dance about as well as I can run a mile, and I can't do that very well, as you might have guessed. Honestly, dancing is one of the most frightening things I can think of at the moment,” I said.

To my great relief, he laughed. “It's all in the leading.” He smiled his breathtaking smile.

“You're going to have to be one heck of a leader to keep me from falling,” I replied.

We reached to door of my class just as the bell rang. “See you later,” said Edward, smiling his crooked smile once again.

I entered my class and slid into my seat. My mind was a million miles away from the lesson at that point. I'd be spending the day, maybe even the night, in Seattle with the Cullens. I was excited about the trip. I really enjoyed spending time with them, but I was nervous too. Despite spending most of my free time at school with them, I'd never actually been with them outside of school. It would be our first little outing together.

I was also scared of the whole dance concept. I'd never been to a dance...ever. I'd never been invited to one in Phoenix, and I didn't even notice that there was one in Forks. I didn't know how the whole dance routine worked. Was it dinner, then dance? Dance, and then dinner? Did I get ready on my own? I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I spent the rest of the day contemplating the mechanics of the whole “dance” concept.

Edward caught me after school. I was almost at my truck when I saw him jogging over to me. I stopped and let him catch me.

“Hi,” he said, not even breathless.

“Hi,” I answered.

“So, Alice wants to pick you up at eight tomorrow morning. We'll spend the night in Seattle and be back sometime tomorrow morning. Does that work?” he asked.

“I'll have to ask Charlie, but if I accidentally leave out that there are boys going he'll probably say 'yes',” I said. I knew that Charlie would agree to the Seattle trip if he thought it was just Alice and Rosalie.

“Great,” said Edward. “See you tomorrow morning.”

“See you,” I replied. He jogged to his sliver Volvo and hopped into the driver's seat. He was out of the parking lot before I was even into my truck.

As I drove home, I couldn't help but become anxious. Dancing was terrifying, not to mention I'd be in heels. Edward better be good at leading, or else I'd end up breaking something.

When I pulled up to the house, Charlie was already home. I got out and prepped myself as I got to the door. Charlie wasn't going to be too happy that his little girl was asked to a dance... or that she agreed to go.

“Dad!” I called as I walked in the door.

“In the kitchen!” he answered.

I walked towards the kitchen, my boots squeaking on the linoleum. Charlie was at the kitchen table, eating a sandwich and reading the newspaper.

“What are you doing home?” He wasn't usually off of work until five or six.

“It was a very slow day. I decided to come home. How was school?” he asked.

I sat in the seat across from him. “It was... interesting.”

“What happened?” he asked, not really paying attention.

“Well, I got asked to a dance,” I replied. He peeked over the top of his newspaper and pretended not to be too overly interested.

“By who?”

“Edward Cullen.” I left out that it was actually his sister that asked. Charlie didn't need to know that part.

“Isn't he a little old for you?”

“He's in my grade, Dad.”

“Hmm...” hummed Charlie.

“And his sisters, Alice and Rosalie, want to take me to Seattle to get a dress,” I said. It all came out in a rush.

“What?” asked Charlie. I said it too fast. I took a deep breath before I began again.

“Can I go to Seattle with Alice and Rosalie to get a dress tomorrow?” I asked. I crossed my fingers under the table.

He set the paper on the table. “Bella.”

“I promise we'll be responsible. We're staying the night in Seattle, so we won't be driving at night. Please?”

Charlie sighed. “Call me when you get there, okay?”

“Thanks, Dad!” I exclaimed. I got up from the table and kissed him on his balding head.